Quick & Dirty Family Trees for DNA Matches

Genealogists often build Quick & Dirty family trees (Q&D trees) for DNA matches who don’t have linked family trees or for DNA matches whose trees aren’t complete enough to help determine the family relationship.

I don’t have the patience to build a tree for each tree-challenged DNA match, so I use a shortcut.

Disclaimer.

I’m a hobbyist. My husband is a professional in the industry. Professional Genealogists probably consider this a very low-brow method partially because I’m using a public family tree that I didn’t personally research and because the FamilySearch tree will have errors. When I research with my husband, he hands me a stack of these papers and tells me, “Document everything, especially failures.” This isn’t that; it’s not original research. That’s why the title includes the words “find” and “quick and dirty.” I ain’t doing the work. To some pros, this method is akin to dumpster diving. But it works for me, time after time.

How to Find Quick and Dirty Trees for DNA Matches

The short version

You need to have your DNA tested somewhere that has family trees and you need to have the ability to see your DNA matches. You also need to have a free family tree at FamilySearch.

On your computer, open two browser windows; one, with your DNA test site and DNA matches; a second with your logged-in account at FamilySearch.

On your DNA test site, look through your DNA matches for someone with a linked tree for whom you want to find your relationship and select their Tree.

Quick tip:

On AncestryDNA, you can filter your matches by Hints and you’ll see matches who have trees; find a match and select View Match.

On MyHeritage DNA, you can filter your matches by Has Family Tree and you’ll see only matches with a family tree; find a match and select View Tree.

On FamilyTreeDNA, select Matches, then look for names with a pedigree icon representing an attached family tree; find a match and select the tree icon

On your computer, leave the first browser window opened to your DNA match’s family tree and Select a deceased ancestor on your match’s family tree you will research. (You can look for someone with a similar surname (last name) or you can start with a DNA match who has shared matches with some known side of your family but I do it for anyone with any size tree.)

Once you’ve chosen someone to research, go to your second browser window (opened to FamilySearch.org) and select from the main menu, Family Tree, then Find.

In the Find window, type in the name of a deceased person from your DNA match’s family tree. Include any details they have (birth place, birth date, death date, death place, marriage, christening, burial, name of spouse, name of father, name of mother) and select Find . (I don’t use “match all exactly” because this is a broad fishing expedition.)

Look over the search results and Select a person who most closely resembles your DNA match’s ancestor. (It’s often the first search result because FamilySearch prioritizes your results based on your query. You Select a person by double-clicking on their name.)

A pop-up window will appear with some information about that person. You have the option to see this person in their family tree or on their individual person page; select Person.

A new window will appear giving you more information about this person, his or her family, etc. In the upper right-hand corner of the Person page, there’s an option to View My Relationship with this person; this is the MAGIC button; select View My Relationship.

If FamilySearch, a one-world tree, finds a relationship between you and this person, it will display the result in a relationship chart that outlines how you are related to a common ancestor and then to the person you researched. In the longer version below, I’ll demonstrate with images what this looks like.

The longer version with images (identifying names and dates are hidden or altered)

You need to have your DNA tested somewhere that has family trees and you need to have the ability to see your DNA matches. You also need to have a family tree at FamilySearch.

FamilySearch trees are free. If you don’t already have one, it’s simple to build. You put your name in, then the names of any living ancestors, then tell FamilySearch to “find” the records for any deceased ancestors. Once you find a deceased ancestor that’s already in their tree, and you link that person to yourself, you become part of the FamilySearch “One-World Tree” and inherit any family tree research already in the system, which often means you get a nice, pre-built family tree.

The trick to building a tree at FamilySearch is you only put in names for LIVING people. Then you search their database for names of your DECEASED ancestors. Hopefully, your deceased ancestor is already in their database. If you’re certain they’re not, you can add a deceased ancestor, then search again for the next DECEASED parent/ancestor. You don’t just go willy-nilly adding the names of all your ancestors because this potentially creates duplicate records that later have to be merged into ONE record for ONE deceased person. You carefully build a bridge between yourself (LIVING, who will not be displayed to anyone else) and eventually your ancestors (DECEASED).

On your computer, open two browser windows; one, with your DNA test site and DNA matches; a second with your logged-in account at FamilySearch.

On your DNA test site, look through your DNA matches for someone with a linked tree for whom you want to find your relationship and select their Tree . (You can look for someone with a similar surname (last name) or you can start with a DNA match who has shared matches with some known side of your family but I do it for anyone with any size tree.)

Quick tip:

On AncestryDNA, you can filter your matches by Hints and you’ll see matches who have trees; find a match and select View Match.

On MyHeritage DNA, you can filter your matches by Has Family Tree and you’ll see only matches with a family tree; find a match and select View Tree.

On FamilyTreeDNA, select Matches, then look for names with a pedigree icon representing an attached family tree; find a match and select the tree icon

On your computer, leave the first browser window opened to your DNA match’s family tree and Choose a deceased ancestor on your match’s family tree you will research.

Once you’ve chosen someone to research, got to your second browser window (opened to FamilySearch.org) and select from the main menu, Tree or Family Tree, then Find.

In the Find window, type in the name of a deceased person from your DNA match’s family tree. Include any details they have (birth place, birth date, death date, death place, marriage, christening, burial, name of spouse, name of father, name of mother) and select Find. (I don’t use “match all exactly” because this is a broad fishing expedition.)

Look over the search results and Select a person who most closely resembles your DNA match’s ancestor. (It’s often the first search result because FamilySearch prioritizes your results based on your query.) You Select the person by double-clicking on their name.

A pop-up window will appear with some information about that person. You have the option to see this person in their family tree or on their individual person page; select Person.

A new window will appear giving you more information about this person, his or her family, etc. In the upper right-hand corner of the Person page, there’s an option to View My Relationship; this is the MAGIC button; select View My Relationship.

If FamilySearch finds a relationship between you and this person, it will display the result. In my case, I researched the deceased father, Porter, of my DNA match and learned that my DNA match is possibly my 2nd cousin 1x removed.

Wrapping it Up

At this point, on whichever DNA test site I’m using, I’ll type up our probable relationship in the “Notes” section for this DNA Match. I’ll include how we’re likely related “Probably my 2nd cousin, 1x removed, ascendant, through MRCA Thomas Johnson in tree at FamilySearch” and include the DNA match’s ancestor’s identifying FamilySearch number (found beside or beneath EVERY name at FamilySearch).

Including someone’s FamilySearch identifying number allows you to quickly look them up at FamilySearch in the Family Tree –> Find menu –> Find by ID option (vs. the Find by Name default selection on the site). I’ve hidden the FamilySearch ID numbers in all the images above.

I also highlight the note or star the person’s name, depending on which DNA site I’m using, to remind myself visually that I’ve possibly identified this match.

And just to be clear about how I figured out and named this relationship:

In this example with names altered, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) between me and my DNA match is Thomas Johnson.

Then, because I’m not in the same generation level as my DNA match, I’m one generation below my match (further away from this common ancestor), I add the detail that I’m one generation removed by saying we’re “2nd cousins once removed” or “2nd cousins 1 time removed”, etc.

Then, I add “ascendant” or “descendant” to show in words, who’s closer to our common ancestor. “Ascendant” means my cousin is above my generation level; “Descendant” means my cousin is below my generation level. I like to add this because “2nd cousin 1x removed” could mean I’m either one generation level above my match or one generation level below my match. When I say “2nd cousin, 1x removed, ascendant” I know this DNA match is a generation above me, so closer to our common ancestor.

And just for the record, this DNA match had a tree with only two people: his deceased father and himself. And it only took a few minutes to figure out how we’re probably related. It doesn’t get much quicker and dirtier than that!

OnGenealogy Disclaimer

This site contains opinionated comment. Some listing authors, bloggers, commenters, or reviewers may be professionals in some field of study but they are not acting in a professional capacity while posting on this site and the information shared on this site is for general informational purposes only.

Reading this site does not create a professional relationship with the reader or user and any author, blogger, commenter, reviewer, or site owner.

OnGenealogy.com and any author(s) are not liable for any losses or damages related to actions or failure to act related to any content on this site.

OnGenealogy.com and any author, blogger, commenter, or reviewer will not be held responsible for any damages as a result of reliance on information on this site. They will also not be responsible for errors, mistakes, or omissions on this site. Users rely on the information contained on this site at their own risk.

About Us

OnGenealogy is a directory of online genealogy records & websites and onsite family history collections. If you have a genealogy business, website, resource, blog, or event you’d like to list, please contact me at [email protected] I’d love to connect. Thanks for visiting!